Chapter Summaries

Chu Zhiyuan, Fu Zheng, Fan Yaohui, and Fan Yuxuan met at Wenhua Tower, where Chu Zhiyuan discovered poison in the food. Fan Yaohui was poisoned after sampling several dishes, and Chu Zhiyuan warned that circulating his cultivation would worsen it.

• Chu Zhiyuan and Fu Zheng arrived at Wenhua Tower and ran into Fan Yaohui and Fan Yuxuan, who invited them to breakfast.
• The four went to a private room, where Fan Yuxuan ordered food and discussed the Qingwu Sword Sect with Chu Zhiyuan.
• Chu Zhiyuan detected poison in most of the dishes and explained that it was a compound poison that needed several items to take effect.
• Fan Yaohui sampled the poisoned food, and his face and tongue turned black as the poison spread through his body.
• Chu Zhiyuan warned Fan Yaohui not to circulate his cultivation, but Fan Yuxuan rushed out to find a stronger Detoxification Pill.

Chu Zhiyuan identified the poisoning of Fan Yaohui as a likely plot and saved him with the Sweet Dew Curse. After Fan Yaohui took the captured poisoner away for questioning, an ambush killed the prisoner, leaving the conspiracy unresolved.

• Chu Zhiyuan recognized Fan Yaohui’s rapidly spreading poison as possibly originating from Wugou Valley and had Fu Zheng seize the blue-robed man he suspected of poisoning him.
• Fu Zheng tortured the captured man, who showed no sign of yielding, while Chu Zhiyuan used the Sweet Dew Curse to expel the poison from Fan Yaohui’s body.
• Fan Yuxuan arrived with an antidote, but Fan Yaohui told her Chu Zhiyuan had already cured him; he decided to take the prisoner back for questioning despite her warning that Wugou Valley might have powerful backing.
• Chu Zhiyuan noticed people following Fan Yaohui’s group and warned Fu Zheng that they would silence the prisoner.
• After Fan Yaohui and the others had traveled a li, attackers ambushed them, then fled into nearby alleys after killing the blue-robed prisoner.

Chu Zhiyuan and Fu Zheng pursued the attackers and captured a Heavenly Devil who had tried to assassinate Marquis Xiao Ming. He later met with Chu Hongwei, discussed the threat from the Devil and Demon Races, and learned that the Yuan Zhen Dynasty had spread the rumor about Marquis Xiao Ming challenging him.

• Chu Zhiyuan told Fu Zheng that one fleeing attacker was a Heavenly Devil and led her into an alley to intercept them.
• Chu Zhiyuan killed one gray-robed attacker and absorbed the Heavenly Devil’s purified soul, while Fu Zheng captured the other attacker.
• Chu Zhiyuan ordered Fu Zheng to take the surviving prisoner to Princess Li Miaotan rather than Marquis Xiao Ming.
• Chu Zhiyuan heard people speculate that the Jade Scenery Dynasty or Yuan Zhen Dynasty had arranged the assassination, then met Chu Hongwei in a restaurant.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Chu Hongwei about the attack and warned him that the Devil and Demon Races might cause trouble around the wedding preparations.
• Chu Hongwei revealed that Yuan Zhen Dynasty agents had spread the rumor that Marquis Xiao Ming wanted to challenge Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan uncovered how a Venerable’s brown pearl concealed the assassins’ auras and concluded that the Yuan Zhen Dynasty had orchestrated the attempt on Marquis Xiao Ming to provoke war between the Jade Scenery Dynasty and Phoenix Imperial City. After viewing the dead Heavenly Devil Zhao Feiliu’s memories in the Haoyang Demon Subduing Mirror, Chu Zhiyuan cultivated and discovered his progress had suddenly accelerated.

• Chu Zhiyuan watched nine assassins cleanse away their auras in a pond using a brown pearl belonging to a Venerable old man.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Chu Hongwei that the assassination of Marquis Xiao Ming was likely a Yuan Zhen Dynasty plot, with Heavenly Devils involved, intended to provoke Phoenix Imperial City into retaliating against Jade Scenery commanders.
• Chu Hongwei said he would use his contacts in Phoenix Imperial City’s Imperial Court to expose the plot before it caused conflict.
• Chu Zhiyuan entered the Haoyang Demon Subduing Mirror and experienced the memories of Zhao Feiliu, a Heavenly Devil who had posed as Hu Hengyang and worked as a Yuan Zhen Dynasty spy.
• Chu Zhiyuan grew furious after seeing Zhao Feiliu kill Hu Hengyang’s wife and child, but chose not to examine the other memory clusters.
• Chu Zhiyuan cultivated for half an hour and found that his progress had greatly surpassed his usual gains.

Chu Zhiyuan considered why his cultivation had improved and learned that experience and personal tempering might be the cause. He joined Li Miaotan to discuss the assassination of Fan Yaohui, which had become entangled in court politics, and concluded that both princes opposed the wedding.

• Chu Zhiyuan discussed the link between experience, cultivation, and spiritual growth with Fu Zheng after she reported that Marquis Xiao Ming and the Princess wanted to see him.
• Li Yuzhen told Chu Zhiyuan that the assassin was being secretly held, and he joined her at Li Miaotan's courtyard, where his Dragon Curse revived Li Miaotan.
• Li Miaotan learned that the captured assassin knew little, ordered Fengtian Palace experts summoned to examine him, and invited Fan Yaohui and Fan Yuxuan to discuss the attack.
• Fan Yaohui and Fan Yuxuan reported that court officials tied the assassination to the Jade Scenery Dynasty, with one official serving the First Prince and another serving the Second Prince.
• Chu Zhiyuan concluded that neither prince wanted the wedding to proceed smoothly.

Li Miaotan, Chu Zhiyuan, and Fan Yaohui discussed Phoenix’s military ambitions and Chu Zhiyuan’s proposal to channel the army’s fighting spirit into rewarding competitions. The chapter ended as three men from Fengtian Palace arrived to use the Mind-Reading Pearl on the captured gray-robed man.

• Li Miaotan explained that the princes opposed the marriage alliance but framed Jade Scenery for the assassination to justify resistance.
• Fan Yaohui told Li Miaotan that the Military would become restless without war within about a year, and Li Miaotan revealed that the War God's Secret Record made its practitioners need to release their fighting spirit.
• Chu Zhiyuan proposed lucrative, high-stakes military competitions, but he and Fan Yaohui agreed that the Phoenix army would still crave war.
• Li Miaotan warned Fan Yaohui and Fan Yuxuan to keep the proposal private because it could strengthen Phoenix against Jade Scenery.
• Li Yuzhen brought three men from Fengtian Palace, and Li Miaotan asked them to use the Mind-Reading Pearl on the captured gray-robed man.

Chu Zhiyuan and the Fengtian Palace experts used a Mind-Reading Pearl on a captured assassin after stopping him from triggering a deadly secret art. The pearl revealed that he was a disciple of Yunyang Peak in the Yuan Zhen Dynasty, and Chu Zhiyuan began questioning him about his companions.

• Chu Zhiyuan noticed the gray-robed middle-aged man’s body reacting to the Mind-Reading Pearl and warned Li Miaotan that he might be trying to kill himself.
• Li Yuzhen sealed the man’s acupoints, but his heartbeat and blood flow continued to accelerate until Chang Xihua restrained him with her Hidden Return Art.
• When the Mind-Reading Pearl made the man’s condition worsen again, Chu Zhiyuan dispersed the gathered blood and qi, stopping the secret art from killing him.
• The Fengtian Palace experts activated the Mind-Reading Pearl, which identified the captured man as a disciple of Yunyang Peak rather than Purple Heaven Jade Pavilion.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked the man who his companions were and where they were staying, while the man struggled to keep his thoughts from being read.

Chu Zhiyuan and Li Miaotan interrogated Lu Haoyuan, uncovering Tingfeng Pavilion’s plot to assassinate Fan Yaohui and the involvement of Deputy Commander Qiao Ming. Lu Haoyuan agreed to serve Chu Zhiyuan, while Qiao Ming remained at large and the group decided not to move against him immediately.

• Chu Zhiyuan used his voice to make the purple-robed elder reveal that Lu Haoyuan had nine companions in Bitterwater Alley and that Qiao Ming was behind the operation.
• Chu Zhiyuan persuaded Lu Haoyuan to abandon his plan to die and offered to shelter him and his family in Yujing; Li Yuzhen restored his ability to speak.
• Lu Haoyuan identified himself as a Tingfeng Pavilion agent and explained that his group had been assigned to receive or silence the wandering assassin targeting Fan Yaohui.
• Lu Haoyuan said he did not know Qiao Ming’s true appearance or Tingfeng Pavilion’s location, and warned that Qiao Ming’s fondness for Quehua Tower might be a deliberate trap.
• The Fengtian Palace elders left to report the matter to His Majesty, and Li Yuzhen escorted them away.

Chu Zhiyuan and Li Miaotan planned to use a cave mansion linked to the Divine Race to divert the First and Second Princes from obstructing their wedding, but the news had not spread through Phoenix Imperial City as expected. As Chu Zhiyuan discussed how the Princes might be suppressing it, he overheard that the First Prince of the Jade Scenery Dynasty had been assassinated.

• Li Miaotan ordered that Lu Haoyuan be given a courtyard, then told Fan Yaohui and Fan Yuxuan to await the Emperor’s decree and avoid acting against her brothers on their own.
• Chu Zhiyuan and Li Miaotan discussed the Princes’ opposition to their marriage and agreed that a cave mansion connected to the Divine Race could distract them.
• Chu Zhiyuan went to a tavern with Fu Zheng and Lu Haoyuan, where he noticed that news of the cave mansion had not reached the public.
• Lu Haoyuan suggested that the First and Second Princes had sealed off the news, and Chu Zhiyuan told Fu Zheng to have the Thousand Mechanisms Tower watch them.
• Lu Haoyuan predicted Yuan Zhen would exploit the cave mansion news to provoke conflict among the Princes, and Chu Zhiyuan overheard that the First Prince of the Jade Scenery Dynasty had been assassinated.

After learning that Demon Race assassins had attacked the Jade Scenery delegation, Chu Zhiyuan heard the losses from Chu Hongwei and resolved to retaliate. He later intercepted Chu Liechu and four Venerables as the battered convoy neared the imperial city.

• Chu Zhiyuan suspected the Emperor had allowed news of the cave mansion to spread and decided they should listen to the Twelfth Princess.
• Chu Hongwei told Chu Zhiyuan that the Demon Race attack had killed six Imperial Guards, while the delegation had killed only two of the twenty attackers.
• Chu Zhiyuan resolved to pursue the surviving attackers despite Chu Hongwei's warning not to jeopardize the approaching wedding.
• Chu Zhiyuan explained that Lu Haoyuan would be useful for understanding Yuan Zhen and arranged for Chu Hongwei to protect and monitor him.
• Chu Zhiyuan watched Chu Liechu's demoralized convoy from a mountain, then summoned Chu Liechu and four Venerables to meet him.

Chu Zhiyuan defied Chu Liechu’s warnings and pursued suspected Demon Race watchers, defeating four pure-blooded Demon Race fighters in the woods. He asked Chu Liechu whether the captured men were among the ambushers who had attacked their party.

• Chu Zhiyuan asked Chu Liechu for evidence from the ambush so he could hunt down the killers, but Chu Liechu warned him to focus on his upcoming wedding.
• Chu Zhiyuan said his Heavenly Dragon Incantation let him sense Demon Race members and insisted he could pursue them without entering the Outer Realm Battlefield.
• Chu Zhiyuan spotted two Gray Eagles watching from above and suspected Demon Race members were nearby.
• Chu Zhiyuan rushed into the woods and found four brown-robed Demon Race fighters, then fought them alone as Chu Liechu and the Attendants followed.
• Chu Zhiyuan used the Heavenly Dragon Divine Palm to defeat all four fighters and asked Chu Liechu whether they had taken part in the earlier ambush.

Chu Zhiyuan lured Demon Race experts into ambushes and killed twelve of them, absorbing their demon crystals to strengthen himself. After a Venerable’s crystal advanced him to the fourth transformation of the Heavenly Dragon Incantation, he faced the remaining Demon Race experts without fear.

• Chu Zhiyuan killed four Demon Race experts, absorbed their demon crystals, and left two bodies hanging in the woods to draw out their companions.
• Chu Liechu withdrew with his Attendants after learning that Chu Zhiyuan’s movement technique made him difficult to catch.
• Chu Zhiyuan ambushed four Demon Race experts who came to investigate and killed them before they could destroy their demon crystals.
• Chu Zhiyuan fought through two waves of Demon Race experts, killed twelve in total, and took a Venerable’s demon crystal at the cost of an injury.
• The Venerable’s demon crystal advanced Chu Zhiyuan to the fourth transformation of the Heavenly Dragon Incantation, and he howled as he prepared to face the remaining Demon Race experts.

Chu Zhiyuan lured the Demon Race experts into an ambush and joined Fu Zheng, Li Yuzhen, and the Jade Scenery delegation to fight them. As the Demon Race began using the dangerous Burning Blood Art, Chu Zhiyuan remained locked in battle with two powerful Venerables.

• Chu Liechu recognized Chu Zhiyuan as a Venerable and ordered the Jade Scenery delegation to prepare to attack the approaching Demon Race experts.
• Fu Zheng and Li Yuzhen arrived, and Chu Zhiyuan showed them the corpses of more than ten Demon Race experts he had already killed.
• More than twenty Demon Race experts charged, and Fu Zheng and Li Yuzhen fought them while Chu Zhiyuan engaged two Demon Race Venerables.
• Chu Liechu and the Jade Scenery experts joined the battle and began killing the Demon Race attackers.
• The Demon Race experts activated the Burning Blood Art, forcing Chu Zhiyuan to face a worsening fight against the two Venerables.

Chu Zhiyuan fought the Demon Race Venerables while protecting the Imperial Guards and harvesting demon crystals. After mastering the sixth and then the seventh form of the Heavenly Dragon Divine Palm, he helped defeat the two Venerables and absorbed their crystals, leaving the Heavenly Dragon Incantation close to its fifth transformation.

• Two Demon Race experts used the Burning Blood Art and exploded into a toxic blood mist that stirred murderous intent among the fighters.
• Chu Zhiyuan unleashed the sixth form of the Heavenly Dragon Divine Palm, injured the two Demon Race Venerables, and joined Fu Zheng and Li Yuzhen in battling them.
• Chu Zhiyuan harvested demon crystals from fallen Demon Race members while Fu Zheng, Li Yuzhen, Mr. Meng, and Mr. Hu helped suppress the Venerables.
• Chu Zhiyuan used the Great Demon Subduing Seal to restrain the two Venerables and prevent them from activating the Burning Blood Art.
• Chu Zhiyuan practiced the seventh form of the Heavenly Dragon Divine Palm, then struck down the two Venerables as they transformed into a giant bear and a fierce tiger.
• Chu Zhiyuan absorbed the two Venerables' demon crystals, bringing the Heavenly Dragon Incantation to within a hair's breadth of its fifth transformation.

After helping the Jade Scenery delegation defeat the Demon Race ambush, Chu Zhiyuan escorted them safely to Phoenix Imperial City and learned that the Devil Race might target him next. He discovered that a human from Yuanzhen had watched the battle, while Yuanzhen’s elders chose to stay out of the coming assassination attempt.

• Chu Zhiyuan thanked the Jade Scenery Imperial Guards and sent Chu Liechu onward, offering to watch for further ambushes as the delegation hurried toward the Imperial City.
• Li Yuzhen signaled for the Demon Race corpses to be recovered, and she explained to Fu Zheng how the Demon Race stored power within their bodies and used demon crystals.
• Chu Zhiyuan reflected that the demon crystals had greatly advanced his Heavenly Dragon Incantation and expected the Demon Race to target him again.
• After escorting the delegation into Phoenix Imperial City, Chu Zhiyuan identified the Gray Eagles’ owner as a human from Yuanzhen and let a Flying Dagger follow him to a mountain gathering.
• The Yuanzhen elders debated whether to intervene, refused to ally with other races, and decided to watch the Devil Race’s assassination attempt without helping Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan considered using the arriving Devil Race experts to advance his cultivation and asked for several rewards after the corpses were inspected. He accepted the grand Prince Consort’s Mansion despite its ominous history, then received a sword art, a flying dagger art, spirit pills, and a protective Snowfall Robe.

• Chu Zhiyuan visited Li Miaotan and learned that the Spirit Venerable had not appeared, while Li Yuzhen reported that Chief Steward Huang had inspected the Demon Race experts’ corpses.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked Li Yuzhen to request a life-preserving treasure, a first-rate sword art, and a flying dagger art as rewards for the corpses.
• Li Yuzhen led Chu Zhiyuan, Fu Zheng, and Lu Haoyuan to the Prince Consort’s Mansion, where she explained that Prince Ping’s line had ended amid rumors of a Heavenly Demon’s curse.
• Chu Zhiyuan inspected the mansion, found no unusual aura, and decided to accept it despite Fu Zheng’s concern about its ominous reputation.
• A purple-robed eunuch delivered four Purple Lacquer Boxes, and Chu Zhiyuan found a sword art, a flying dagger art, spirit pills, and a Snowfall Robe inside.

Chu Zhiyuan examined the gifts from the Phoenix Emperor, discovering that the Heart Moon Saber Technique suited him and that the Evergreen Sword Art matched Fu Zheng’s training. After discussing how Demon Race and Devil Race experts crossed into human territory, he revealed that Devil Race members had infiltrated the city to assassinate him and said he had been waiting for them.

• Li Yuzhen explained that the Snowfall Robe was woven from Snowfall Crane feathers by a Spirit Venerable, and Fu Zheng tested it with a powerful sword strike that failed to pierce it.
• Chu Zhiyuan recognized the Phoenix Nirvana Pill, studied the Heart Moon Saber Technique, and found that its Spiritual Power-based flying-dagger methods suited him.
• Chu Zhiyuan gave Fu Zheng the Evergreen Sword Art, which she recognized as a perfect continuation of her bamboo-based sword training.
• Chu Zhiyuan recounted his fight against the Demon Race, and Li Yuzhen explained how Demon and Devil Race experts entered human territory through the Outer Realm Battlefield and were limited in power there.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Li Yuzhen, Fu Zheng, and Li Miaotan that Devil Race members had infiltrated the city to assassinate him, then said he had been waiting for them.

Chu Zhiyuan prepared with Li Miaotan and Li Yuzhen to attack the disguised Devil Race experts at dusk, then practiced the Heart Moon Saber Technique. He demonstrated the Evergreen Sword Art for Fu Zheng, who fell into a dangerous state of comprehension.

• Chu Zhiyuan agreed to bring Li Yuzhen, Fu Zheng, Mister Chang, and Marquis Xiao Ming with City Guard support to eliminate the Devil Race experts at dusk.
• Chu Zhiyuan practiced the Heart Moon Saber Technique and used its illusions to make eight Flying Daggers appear as two.
• Chu Zhiyuan visited Fu Zheng as she struggled to comprehend the Evergreen Sword Art and advised her not to focus only on bamboo.
• Chu Zhiyuan demonstrated the Evergreen Sword Art with Fu Zheng's sword, and she entered a strange state with her aura fluctuating as if she might suffer Qi Deviation.

Fu Zheng comprehended the Meaning of Everlasting Green with Chu Zhiyuan’s help, then joined him and Li Yuzhen in a hunt for hidden Devil Race infiltrators in Phoenix Imperial City. They killed ten Heavenly Devils, exposing the threat as their corpses erupted into red mist.

• Chu Zhiyuan watched over Fu Zheng as she nearly suffered Qi Deviation, and she eventually comprehended the Meaning of Everlasting Green.
• Fu Zheng asked whether enemies would attack during the wedding, and Chu Zhiyuan said the Demon Race, Devil Race, and Yuanzhen might sabotage it.
• Chu Zhiyuan, Li Yuzhen, and Fu Zheng walked through Phoenix Imperial City while Fan Yaohui and Chang Xihua followed, searching for Devil Race experts.
• Chu Zhiyuan and the two women ambushed ten men, killing them with Flying Daggers and sword strikes as Chu Zhiyuan subdued the others with punches.
• Li Yuzhen identified the dead men as Heavenly Devils, and Chu Zhiyuan urged Fu Zheng to sense their nature before their bodies burst into red mist.

Chu Zhiyuan and his companions tracked Devil Race infiltrators through the city, only to discover a family they had murdered and face a coordinated attack. Chu Zhiyuan escaped an ambush that sacrificed twenty-four Devil Race experts, and he questioned why the Imperial Court had done nothing about the infiltration.

• Fan Yaohui realized that Fengtian Palace knew about the Devil Race infiltrators and might believe Chu Zhiyuan could handle them.
• Chu Zhiyuan led Fu Zheng and Li Yuzhen to a residence where the Devil Race had killed twelve members of a family, including an infant.
• The group followed the Devil Race to an alley, where four attackers launched a sudden assault and Chu Zhiyuan used his lightness skill to evade them.
• Twenty more Devil Race experts sacrificed themselves in explosions, but Chu Zhiyuan escaped to a rooftop and the Haoyang Demon Subduing Mirror purified their soul light.
• Li Yuzhen warned that the Devil Race would keep sending attackers, and Chu Zhiyuan asked why the Imperial Court had not acted against the infiltrators.